


I'm Happy in Your Hands

by butterflybaby91



Category: Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Canon Era, F/M, post show plot, wow look at me posting fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-21
Updated: 2014-01-21
Packaged: 2018-01-09 12:00:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1145733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/butterflybaby91/pseuds/butterflybaby91
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Katherine's father gives her an ultimatum about Jack</p>
            </blockquote>





	I'm Happy in Your Hands

“So I’ll see you tomorrow?” Jack asked as Katherine turned to enter her house.

She swung back around to face him with a smile, running back down the steps and wrapping her arms around his neck as she kissed him, “Of course!” she confirmed with a smile. She pulled away, and raced back up the steps, as Jack watched her go with a grin, calling out “Seeya Ace!” as she entered her house.

Once the door was closed behind her, Katherine peaked out from behind the curtain in the front window. She watched Jack straighten his cap, before he headed down the street, whistling. She sighed in happiness, moving away from the window and practically running into her mother.

“Mama!” she cried, stepping back in surprise, which only resulted in her banging her head on the window.

Her mother frowned, “Where were you Katherine? We expected you back a half an hour ago!” she inquired.

Katherine grimaced—she knew she had been gone for far too long and she was probably going to pay for that, “I’m sorry Mama—I was out with Jack and we lost track of time…” her voice trailed off as her mother’s frown only grew deeper at the mention of Jack’s name.

 Ever since the strike had ended and Katherine had started spending much of her free time with Jack Kelly, the frown lines on her mother’s face seemed permanently etched there. Katherine swore she could remember when her mother used to smile and be happy to see her, but those times were no longer prevalent—at least not as long as a certain newsboy, turned political cartoonist was hanging around.

“I see,” her mother sniffed, “Well dinner is on the table—we were just waiting for you to get back so we could begin—please hurry to clean up so that the rest of us do not die of hunger,” she ordered Katherine, before she swept out of the foyer toward the dining room.

Katherine slumped against the door momentarily, rubbing her eyes in frustration, before her mother called, “Katherine we’re waiting,” forcing her out of her reprieve as she raced up the stairs toward her room.

A few minutes later, washed up and changed into a clean dress, Katherine entered the dining room to find her mother’s glare far from receded, and her father’s twin one, both trained on her. Unable to keep herself from feeling like a misbehaving twelve-year old, Katherine slipped as quietly into her seat as she could manage, keeping her eyes trained on her plate.

She couldn’t ignore her sister nudging her side however, so Katherine looked at her questioningly and when she nodded toward the end of the table at which their father sat, Katherine felt her stomach sink. Making eye contact with her father, Katherine steeled herself for yet another lecture on why “that boy is not good for you”. Despite the fact that Katherine’s father had come to respect Jack as a person and valued him as an employee, he still did not like that his daughter was running around with him. Katherine had suffered through one too many lectures about how she should not be wasting her time and how she was being immature and unreasonable. Still, all it took was the thought of Jack’s smile every time he caught sight of her, for all thoughts of her parents’ disappointment to leave her.

This time seemed different, however. Pulitzer nodded at the kitchen maid standing in the corner to begin serving dinner as he drawled, “So nice of you to join us Katherine. And how is dear Jack this evening?”

Katherine winced, “He’s quite fine father,” she mumbled, trying to keep her attention fixed on her food.

But that was not going to be happening tonight. Pulitzer cleared his throat, “Katherine,” he boomed, causing her to drop her fork and look up at him. Her father looked angrier than she had seen him in a long time. She carefully schooled her face into a neutral expression, willing her hands not to shake in fear.

“Yes Father?” she asked, as innocently as she could muster.

Pulitzer picked up his dinner knife and casually began to run the edge over his index finger, eyes focused on the silver and not on his daughter. Katherine watched in fascination as she saw her father physically struggled to keep his temper in check before he said flatly, “You cannot be serious about this boy,” finally looking up at her.

Katherine gulped, _Here it comes_ , she thought. “I am perfectly serious about him,” she answered calmly.

And that was when her father’s temper snapped. He slammed the knife down, blade first, on the table, face red, eyes bulging, as stood, towering over the table. Katherine struggled to keep a straight face and not react to her father’s anger, but eighteen years of cowering under her father’s iron will was hard to shake.

“Well,” her father mused, in an almost calm voice, which only served to frighten Katherine further, “I guess I will have to change that.” He _finally_ put the knife down and leered at his daughter, “Can’t have my daughter, reporter or not, running around with an orphan newsboy,” he said, sitting down and starting to eat, as if the conversation was settled, “I shall begin discussion for your engagement in the morning.”

Katherine couldn’t speak for a moment the roaring in her ears was so loud. She must have misheard her father. There was no way he was actually planning on arranging her marriage—this was the 20th century for goodness sakes! “What?” she finally managed to whisper.

Pulitzer smiled calmly at her, “Best tell Jack goodbye; tomorrow will be the last day you will see him—I’ll make sure of that. I was hoping to afford you the freedom to make your own decisions about whom you would spend your life with, but I see I have failed in raising a daughter who can make the proper decisions and thus I have to take it upon myself,” he stated and Katherine felt her temper growing.

Slowly, she pushed her chair away from the table, and stood facing her father, not caring when her napkin slid off her lap and lay in a crumpled heap on the ground—really she felt like following it—but she could not, _would not_ , let her father see her in such a moment of weakness.

“No,” she said, calmly, simply, resolute in what she knew she would have to do.

Pulitzer laughed, “What dear?” he asked in a patronizing tone, as he steadily ate his dinner. Her mother and sister had, however, stopped eating and were staring at her with matching stricken looks upon their faces.

“No,” she repeated, a bit louder, “I won’t let you separate me from Jack,” she informed her father, relishing this time, when his face started to contort into its mask of rage.

Her father stood, brandishing a finger at her as he roared, “As long as you live under my house you will obey my rules,” he thundered, “And I say you are not allowed to see that boy ever again!”

With a glare, Katherine spun on her heel and marched out of the dining room, heading for the door. Behind her she could hear her father yell, “If you walk out that door now, don’t bother coming back!”

Realistically, Katherine knew she should cool off, maybe at least grab a few of her things, but she could not, she was too worked up now, “Fine!” she shouted back, as she wrenched open the door and stormed off into the falling night, slamming the door behind her.

She was halfway down the street before her anger was diminished by the cool fall air and her adrenaline faded, leaving her exhausted. Katherine collapsed on someone’s garden wall, resting her face in her hands. What was she going to do? She knew she could probably stay at Jack’s tonight, but that could not be a long term solution—at least for now—they weren’t married or engaged or _anything_. She had other friends, but most of those friends’ parents also knew her father, so she probably risked being sent back to his house if she went to seek refuge with them. And it was much too cold to be sleeping on the street.

There was really only one place she could go tonight anyway. So, Katherine suppressed the threatening tears, straightened her dress, and set off for the Newsies lodging house, where Jack still lived, even though he was no longer regularly delivering papers.

\--

Les screamed her name when he saw her trudging up the stairs of the lodging house and he ran over, wrapping his tiny arms around her waist in a tight hug, before running off pulling his brother with him. Davey gave her a bright smile as he was whisked away, “Jack’s upstairs,” he called over his shoulder. Katherine gave him a small smile of thanks, before she trudged the rest of the way up the stairs, rapping at the door of Jack’s small garret room.

When Jack swung the door open, he was half undressed, sporting a smirk that turned into a frown when he saw her standing there, eyes red, dress rumpled, “Katherine!” he exclaimed, grabbing her by the elbow and tugging her into his room, “What’s wrong? What are you doing here?” he asked, as he steered her toward his bed, at the same time tugging on the shirt that lay askew across the end of the bed.

Katherine collapsed onto Jack’s bed, head half burrowed in his pillow, not caring how compromising this whole situation was—she was completely beyond carrying at this point. Jack sat down next to her, and began stroking her hair, “What’s wrong Ace?” he asked softly.

She sighed, “Well, I think I’m homeless,” she muttered into the pillow.

Jack’s hand froze, fingers still tangled in her hair, “What?” he asked.

Heaving a sigh, Katherine sat up so she could face him, “My father said he was going to marry me off to keep me from seeing you,” she began and Jack grimaced. It was no secret that Katherine’s parents were not fond of her seeing him and there had been more than one anguished discussion about whether their being together was worth the hassle Katherine was going through at home. She always assured him, vehemently, that it was.

And it really was. Jack was probably the best thing that had ever happened to her. He believed in her and gave her the confidence to believe in herself and her capabilities as a journalist. And besides, she had been in the process of distancing herself from her family and her father’s influence long before Jack’s strike had made that so much more important and much more possible. Ever since the strike, her career at the Sun had taken off. And it gave her a thrill knowing that it was all _in spite_ of her father and not because of him.

“He threatened that,” Katherine continued, meeting Jack’s gaze, “And so I left. For good.”

Jack’s grimace turned into a hopeful smile, “For good?” he repeated.

“Yes,” she confirmed, suddenly unable to keep herself from smiling. Who cared that she really didn’t know where she was going to sleep tonight or what she was even going to wear tomorrow. She was free. Free from her father’s tyranny and her mother’s hounding. She was free to do as she pleased. Free to spend time with Jack. And she would be alright. She did have her job at the newspaper after all. And she had Jack.

Jack’s smile mirrored hers as he tugged her into a tight hug, “Are you happy?” he asked quietly, after they pulled apart, holding her arms length and studying her face.

She nodded, “Yes, I think I am,” she said.

“Good,” Jack replied, kissing her gently on the forehead. Katherine closed her eyes as Jack’s warm lips met her still chilled skin. Her heart felt close to bursting as she realized that no one would ever be able to keep her from him _ever_ , “What are you going to do though?” Jack asked, breaking her reprieve.

Katherine sighed, “I’ll manage,” she said with a weak smile, “It’s not like I can’t support myself. I’ll just have to find an apartment on my own.” She started adding up how much all these new expenses were going to be and started feeling anxious just thinking about it.

“Well,” Jack began, “Ya know, I’ve been thinkin’ bout leaving the lodging house soon,” he said, his eyes fixed on her.

Katherine frowned, “Okay,” she mused, confused, not really understanding how the two were connected.

Jack grinned, “Katherine,” he laughed, “What if we, I mean would you, what if,” he stumbled over his words until Katherine was thoroughly confused and then Jack groaned and grabbed her hands and pulled her up, before dropping to the ground and staring up at her. She gulped, _Oh_ , she thought, biting her lip, too excited to move, “Katherine,” Jack tried again and Katherine thought she might melt from the look in his eyes, “Would you marry me?” he asked simply, and his cheeks flushed as waited for her reply.

“Yes, yes of course,” she answered happily, pulling him to his feet. His hand cupped her cheek, as he smiled at her before kissing her.

“I love you,” Jack whispered against her lips in between kisses, and he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her flush against him.

“I love you too,” she replied, and they broke apart long enough for Jack to drag her back over towards the bed. But as they reached it, Katherine balked, even as Jack tugged her down onto the mattress next to him and wrapped one hand around her waist and the other around her neck, trying to renew their kissing, “Wait,” she pleaded, causing Jack to pull back immediately. She might be independent and now no longer under her parents’ control—but this was still moving a bit too fast for her liking. When Jack saw the panic in her eyes he leaned back against the pillows, putting some space between them.

“Sorry Katherine,” he said, voice full of remorse, “Got a little carried away there.”

Taking a deep breath Katherine shook her head, “Its fine,” she smiled and moved to sit beside him, stretched out across his bed. She rested her head on his shoulder and he wrapped an arm around her and they sat in silence for a moments before Katherine said, “We should probably get married as soon as possible though,” with a chuckle.

Jack laughed, uproariously, “Most definitely,” he agreed, kissing the top of her head, “Maybe we can find a minister to marry us tomorrow?” he considered to which Katherine whole heartedly agreed.

Some might say she was running away from her father, and making a rash decision. But Katherine knew the truth, as she fell asleep that night, cradled in Jack’s arms. She was running, but not away—she was running whole heartedly to Jack and their future together a future that would begin the next day with a simple ceremony, surrounded by laughing friends and sealed with sweet kisses. A future she never in her wildest dreams expected, but now could not imagine living without. And as Jack hugged her more tightly to his chest, she knew she had never been surer about a decision in her life. She would deal with the trials that tomorrow would bring, but at least she knew that Jack would be with her, right at her side, as she did.


End file.
